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Max Greenfield, who plays Schmidt on 'New Girl,' to speak at Syracuse University

New Girl: Max Greenfield as Schmidt

Max Greenfield, pictured at left attending the 2014 Golden Globes, is best known for playing Schmidt, right, on "New Girl." The fictional character is revealed to be a Syracuse University alumnus in flashbacks revolving around "Fat Schmidt."
(The Associated Press; Telly video still)

Max Greenfield, pictured at left attending the 2014 Golden Globes, is best known for playing Schmidt, right, on "New Girl." The fictional character is revealed to be a Syracuse University in flashbacks revolving around "Fat Schmidt."The Associated Press; Telly video still

No joke: A fictional Syracuse University alumnus will return to his alma mater for a night of conversation and comedy on April Fool's Day.

"New Girl" star Max Greenfield is scheduled to speak at SU on Tuesday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. in an event sponsored by University Union and The Winnick Hillel Center. The 33-year-old actor will talk about his film and TV career in the Schine Student Center's Goldstein Auditorium.

Tickets are on sale through the Schine Box Office for $5 and available to the public.

View full sizeActors from left, Hannah Simone, Max Greenfield, Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson and Lamorne Morris arrive at the Academy's screening and Q and A of the television series "New Girl" at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 in Los Angeles. Richard Shotwell | Invision | AP

Greenfield has been nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his role as Schmidt on the hit Fox sitcom. In the show's first season, a back story revealed the character graduated from Syracuse University when "Fat Schmidt" was shown in college, wearing an SU sweatshirt.

Schmidt's best friend Nick (played by Jake Johnson) says in the same 2012 episode that they met when Schmidt was a "sweet, chubby communications major," implying that he was an S.I. Newhouse School of Communications student. In later episodes, Nick talks about dropping out of law school, suggesting his character was attending Syracuse University's College of Law (SUCOL).

This past December, another "New Girl" episode made a reference to Central New York when Schmidt talked about selling Christmas trees in Syracuse.

The series revolves around Jess (Zooey Deschanel), who moved in with Nick, Schmidt and Winston (Lamorne Morris) after a painful breakup. Deschanel is the star of the show as an "adorkable" elementary teacher character, but Greenfield's oversexed, obsessive-compulsive Schmidt often steals the scene with jokes about his Jewish heritage, his ridiculous vanity or his snobby world view.

"We've played him in such a way that this could go terribly wrong, and then we started to air and the response was so positive," Greenfield told the Associated Press last year. "It kind of affirmed all the things that the writers were doing, all the things that I was doing. I think it said to everyone, 'We're on the same page. We can keep moving forward.' And then they just went crazy with it."

Greenfield, who grew up in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., is best known for his television roles, which include Leo on "Veronica Mars" and a young Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher) on "The O.C." He's also appeared on "Hot in Cleveland," "Greek," "Castle" and "Gilmore Girls."

Here's a video of Greenfield dressed in a fat suit as Schmidt in college, wearing a Syracuse University hoodie and dancing to Rihanna's "We Found Love":